6:44 PM |
Yesterday is a wrinkle in your forehead
Yesterday is a
Don't close your eyes;
Don't close your eyes;
This is your life.
Are you who you want to be?
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"In the warrior's code, there is no surrender. Although the body says no, the spirit says never."
...God knows I tried.
Everyone keeps telling me that it's okay, they're older than you; it's okay, they're all national canoeists anyway; it's okay, it's okay... but it's not. It's not okay.
What does it matter who they are, or how much seniority they hold, anyway?
I can't choose my opponents- life doesn't work that way.
I've found a quote that expresses almost exactly what I feel, and here it is:
I'm no fighter, but I'm fighting
This whole world seems uninviting
But I won't give up, no, I won't ever give up
I fall down sometimes, but I'll come back flying.
Every drop of blood- I can do this.
WE can do this; and well done, to everyone who rowed their hearts out today.
On a lighter [but p'raps more intense] note; the dragonboat races today were quite an experience. I participated in the Women's Open, and the Mixed (B) Open; with the B Div girls and supersenior girls, and the Mountbatten Dragonboat Team respectively.
By "quite an experience", I mean quite an experience.
The water was churning, and it flew into my eyes and made them sting so bad I couldn't see; so I had no choice but to close my eyes and row, to the beat of the drummer.
Which, apparently, worked quite well.
Everything intensifies, so I've noticed, when you close your eyes.
When I closed my eyes, I was able to focus on plunging my paddle in through the water, through the pain; and the beat of the drummer was our anthem; and I could hear the heavy breathing of my teammates, and their snarls and cries of, "Come on, we can do this!"
And I felt complete; and all I was thinking of was, "C'mon, row to wake up the dragon."
And it worked, and we did it; and we got 3rd for the first race; and narrowly missed getting 1st place [by a few seconds, dammit.] for the second race; and we're having a rapid charge tomorrow to confirm which teams'll be heading into the semi-finals.
Every drop of blood.
<3